The Emporia Public Library and Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow have brought an extensive national health research project to town.
All of Us is described as a historic effort to get data from at least 1 million people over the next decade in order to “accelerate research and improve health.” The research is designed to factor individual differences in biology, environment and lifestyle to help doctors craft and administer precision medicine.
Emporia Public Library Director Robin Newell says libraries realize there are significant concerns about medical matters, and the Emporia library is among a host of other facilities across the country working for solutions.
The All of Us mobile education and enrollment center will be at the Guion’s Showcase parking lot, 2023 West Sixth, until 3 pm Friday. It will be at the Cinco de Mayo celebration from 11 am to 6 pm Saturday. Participants will receive a $25 gift card for going through the process, which is simple but extensive. Newell says participants will be asked for name, hometown, health, family and work. Certain medical samples will be requested. Newell says people have their choice of agreeing to all the requests or just a few.
Information will be kept confidential. Newell says the information is given a code number and also “stripped and aggregated” to make sure the process and results are as anonymous as possible.
For more information about the All of Us research project, go online to www.allofus.nih.gov or www.emporialibrary.org.
